Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
A Pokemon-Themed Final Question Stymies Jeopardy Contestants
It's not likely someone will know every answer to every questions on Jeopardy - or is that every question to every answer? - but the written final at the end tends to ruin more people than it helps. Last night, three contestants were tasked with identifying the following fact: "The desire in his childhood to catch every insect inspired Satoshi Tajiri to create this 1996 game," read Jeopardy's longtime host Alex Trebek whose lack of a mustache will always bother me.
The answer to this is, of course, Pokemon. Well, technically Pokemon Red and Green since it established the year, but this isn't Video Game Jeopardy, so they let it pass.
Matt Preston of Alabama, the only contestant to get the correct answer, doubled his winnings with a $10,399 bet. If he had gotten it wrong, he would have had $1 remaining.
Amanda Barlau bet $6000 on the answer "Splat." I'm not going to try and guess what she was thinking, but presumably she knew of or heard about Splatoon or the 1983 ZX Spectrum game of the same name. That's a much closer guess than it could have been, but betting $6000 on that answer seems pretty unnecessary.
The final contestant, Marcus Gresham, guesses Centipede for a whopping $10,000, which cost him his two-day streak. Gresham likely reached for anything in his memory that filled both "Video Game" and "Insect" blanks and landed on Centipede, which is as good a guess as any if you truly don't know. It does predate Pokemon by about sixteen years, though.
You can check out the video below and catch Preston's face when he realizes he's the only one who knew the answer.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
